Daily Record

BIGGEST GAME OF MY CAREER

Gerrard tells Gers to give their all for last-8 glory

- BY DAVID McCARTHY

STEVEN GERRARD has labelled the shoot-out with Slavia Prague tonight as the biggest of his managerial career and urged his men to seize the chance to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.

Rangers’ 1-1 draw in the Czech capital last week has given them a great opportunit­y to go one round further than last season. And although Gerrard

IF this was under normal circumstan­ces then Ibrox would be generating enough electricit­y to power the National Grid tonight.

A full house of 50,000 would have the air crackling with excitement, energy and anticipati­on under the lights as Rangers try to reach the Europa League quarter-finals.

That’s how it was this time last year as Bayer Leverkusen arrived at the same stage in the competitio­n, just before the plug was pulled on football, but 12 months ago there was a realisatio­n Gerrard’s men were taking on an opponent operating at a higher level.

This time, though, Rangers have earned the right to go into this last 16 shoot-out on an equal footing with the team that stands in their way.

Slavia Prague, runaway leaders in their own league just as Gers have been in Scotland, deserve all the respect but on the evidence of the first leg in the Czech Republic, Gerrard’s men have every right to believe this is a challenge that can be overcome.

A 1-1 draw in Prague, after two days of championsh­ip winning celebratio­n and an opening half hour when Rangers looked like they were still nursing a hangover, was a terrific result.

But Gerrard knows that it will count for nothing unless his team plays at the top of their game from the first whistle.

He’ll be demanding that, without the backing of their fervent support from the stands, his players generate their own power to shock a Slavia outfit that got things a little too much their own way in that opening spell last week for Gerrard’s liking.

And the one thing he doesn’t want is for his team to die wondering tonight.

He said: “We have to handle the ball and show we are Rangers, we are a good team and a strong team at home. We have to play with real belief and confidence.

“I felt that in the opening 20-30 minutes in the first leg we were organised and had a good shape about us.

“But when we regained the ball, we didn’t keep it for long enough periods and we turned it over too cheaply and too quickly.

“So I want us to come out of the blocks tomorrow. We have had a better preparatio­n going into this game, which everyone will be aware of, but I want us to really show we can play both sides of the game.

“I want us to be really tough. I want Slavia to really feel us. I want us to be aggressive but at the same time we have to show that we are a good team and have good players, internatio­nal players who can handle the ball at this level, because we didn’t do that for the first 20-30 minutes in the first leg.

“Once we started to show that we could keep the ball for longer periods, then we had better periods of success in the game. It will be interestin­g if we can find our level on both sides of the game. That will give us a better chance.”

Slavia beat Leicester City 2-0 in England in the last round to set up the meeting with Rangers – a result that earned them respect from the Scots even before a ball was kicked last week.

That hasn’t diminished after

seeing them up close last Thursday night.

Gerrard added: “To come up against a team at this stage of the competitio­n, you’ve got to have respect.

“We’ve played against this team now for 90 minutes and, if anything, we’ve only got even more respect for them. You can see quite clearly they can play at real high intensity and they’ve got good players who can hurt you if you give them time and space.

“They are a very fit, powerful team, almost German-like in terms of how they go about it, so we’re under no illusions and have every bit of respect for this team.

“But we have no fear and we are here because we deserve to be here. We are here because we are a good team. We’ve got internatio­nal players ourselves and a really strong home record. Everyone is looking forward to this game with excitement and belief that if we find our level and our best, we believe it could be enough.

“We’ve watched the Leicester game. It was a fantastic result for them to go there, with the form they’re in and the manager they’ve got. It was a big achievemen­t but this is a different game. Ibrox is different and we want to give this game everything we’ve got.

“Our game plan was to set it up for Ibrox. We realised it was a very tough place to go – they have a fantastic home record domestical­ly and in Europe. The positive thing for us is that we HAVE set it up for Ibrox. We got ourselves an away goal and have given ourselves a real good opportunit­y.

“Having said that, we believe we are going to have to perform an awful lot better to get through because we know Slavia are going to come and give everything they’ve got. We believe it is really set up for a good 50/50 tie.”

We have no fear and we are here because we deserve to be here

STEVEN GERRARD ON HOW FAR RANGERS CAN GO

 ??  ?? MY LEARNING CURVE Gerrard says Smith has been huge help
MY LEARNING CURVE Gerrard says Smith has been huge help
 ??  ?? BACK AGAIN Gers fans pack stands against Leverkusen and, right, Slavia hail Abdallah Sima’s goal against Leicester City
BACK AGAIN Gers fans pack stands against Leverkusen and, right, Slavia hail Abdallah Sima’s goal against Leicester City

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom